Updike and the Short Story at ALA 2014

In the wake of the Library of America's publication of John Updike's Collected Stories, the John Updike Society invites paper proposals considering his work as a short story writer. Many of his stories contain protagonists that could be stand-ins for their author. What kinds of insights do they provide concerning Updike's unique relation to his milieu? To the natural world or other works of art? What about other short story writers? Has his work as a short story writer impacted the genre—or did the short story's generic conventions leave its mark on his writing in other genres? Is there a structural, thematic, or theoretical consistency that emerges in the art of his short story writing? The panel welcomes papers that address these and any other aspects of Updike's short stories.

Please send your 250 word proposal and a brief CV to Scott Dill at sdill@email.unc.edu by January 15th, 2014.